Gravity-carrier.



No. 842,155 PATENTED JAN. 22, 190? R P. MATHEWS & c. H. LISTER.

GRAVITY CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 12, 1905.

SHEETSSHEET 1 //VVENTORS WH M E N H M 7 A m W N $9 uR E B. H WM .7 R0 54 w N. a 52W Q PATENTED JAN. 22, 1907.

R. P. MATHEWS & G. H. LISTER.

GRAVITY CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 12.1905.

' 2 SHEETSSHEE'I 2.

F/ 6.4. /NVENTOR$' RUFUS P. MA THE ws CHARLES H. LISTER sliding, off thecarrier and without requiring antifriction-rollers j ournaled in saidrails and yinafter dcscribed,.and particularly pointed county,Minnesota, have invented certain cation.

over them.

view, partially in section, of a portion of the the rollers in bearingsbetween the rails .of the carrier.

UNITED STATES A ENT OFFICE.

RUFUS P. MATHEWS AND CHARLES H. LISTER, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA,

ASSIGNORS TO MATHEWS GRAVlTY CARRIER COMPANY, OF ST. PAUL,

MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION or MINNESOTA.

GRAVITY-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Jan. 22,1907.

Application filed May 12, 1905 Serial NoJZSOJOZ. v

To all whom it may concern: p l Be it known that we, RUFUS P. MATHEWSand CHARLES H. LISTER, of St. Paul, Ramsey new and useful Improvementsin Gravity Carriers, of which t e follow ng is aspccifi- Our inventionrelates to carriers for transporting merchandise by gravity; and theobject of our invention is to provide a carrier, designed particularlyfor transporting lumher, but capable of being adapted with slightmodifications to handle brick "and other arti-' cles.

A further object is to provide a carrier whcreon the boards or otherarticles will travel for along distance and pass around curves ofdiiierent degree without danger of any attention whatever on the part ofthe arge end of t e carrier. I A further object is to provide .agravitycarrier composed of sections which can be easily moved and arestrong and durable and rovided with antifriction-rollcrs that turn eelywhen engaged by. the article passing,

The invention conslsts' generally in pr0- viding a carrier having siderails and an mtermediate or middle rail between them and,

having their inner ends higher than their outer ends and obliquelyarranged with re spect to the supporting-rails Further, the inventionconsists in various constructions and combinations, all-as hereout inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a plan view of a portion ofa lumber-carrier embodying ourinvention. Fig". 2 is a transverse sectional. view showing the positionassume. by a board' on the rolls. Fig. 3 is a plan carrier, illustratingthe manner of supporting Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a portion of oneof the sections, showing the position of the antifriction-rollerstherein and L ball-bearings and hold the ioller against,.lon'- large toprevent frictionalcontactjof the core the couplings uniting the abuttingends of the sections.

v In the drawings, 2 represents the side rails of a curved section ofthe carrier, and 3 a middle rail between them and slightly below thelevel of the side rails, as indicated in Fig. 2. The side rails arepreferably composed-of two bars bolted or otherwise secured together tostiffen the carrier and lessen its tendency to warp. Rods 4. areprovided at intervals, passing through the side and nziddle rails andbinding them securely together. The antifriction-rollers which we preferto provide in connection with this carrier are made, preferably, ofcomparatively thin tubing 5, having, prefcrably,a wooden core 6, theends of which are flush with the ends of the I tubing and have recesses7 and a central hole 8 to receive a shaft 9. Casings 10, inclosingball-bearings 1 1, fit snugly within the recesses 7. The ends of theshaft 9 are threaded and extend through. the side and middle rails andare provided with nuts 12 and with adjust able cones '13, that areturned up against the gitudinal movement on the shafts-hut per-' nutitto revolve freely ,thereo'n-,-thc hole through the wooden core beinsufhciently with the shaft. The inner end of. the shaft is raisedslightly above the level of t he out or end as shown in Fig. 2, so thatthe surf ace of the roller is inclined downwardly from its inner towardits outer end, and the said shaft and s roller are set in the railsobliquely with respect to the plane thereof, as indicated in Fig. '3,and the lumber placed on these rollers Wlll move toward the center ofthe carrier.

in actual practice the rollers are set at the proper angle with respectto the plane of the rails to insure the travel of the mechanism over theroller without running off. This angle we have exaggerated in thedrawings for the purpose of more clearly illustrating this feature ofthe invention. The pitch or inclination of the roller from the centertoward the sides of the carrier maybe varied to obtain-the'best results.We have found that lumber placed on a carrier of this kind 'will travela long" distance and pass curves of various lengths and degrees withoutany els over them, and if it passes the center a -'dise, it is onlynecessary to set the rollers ends and causing the 'ing side and middlerails and antihtiction idle with the side and middle rails, oiantil'rictiondanger of passing oti the carrier and with only sullicient'drop in the carrier from its receiving to its discharge end to keep thelumher in motion, When a board or other piece of lumber is placed on therollers on one side oi" the center Of.il1( carrier it will work towardthe inner ends of the rolls as it travsullicient distance to contactwith the rolls on the other side it will tilt suiiiciently to ass out ofcontact with the first-named rol ers, owing to the pitch or inclinationof the carrier on each side of the center. It will thus be immaterial onwhich side of the carrierthe lumber is placed. It Will always worktoward the center from either side.

The sections of the carrier are joined together at their abutting endsby a coupling device 14, similar to the one shown and described in ourpending a )plication for Letters Patent 01' the United States, SerialNo. 237,416, tiled December It), 1904. We have shown the rollers of thiscarrier alternately arranged on each side of the middle raii at asuitable distance for transporting boards or other pieces of lumber. Toadapt the devicev for transporting brick or articles ol" merchannearertogether, the pitch from their inner toward their outer ends and theangle of their shafts with respect to the rails being substantially thesameas described.

\Ve donot in this application wish to coniine ourselves to anyparticular construction of the rollers, as various ways may be de visedfor manufacturing them, the essentiali'catures of the invention beingthe manner o'l mounting the rollers obliquely wit h respect to the railsoi the carrier and having their inner ends a little higher than theirouter lumber or other articles to work to the center of the carrier inmoving from one end to the other.

0 claim as our invention-- 1. A gravity niercluuulise carriercomprisrollers journaled therein, the journals of the inner ends of saidrollers being on a dill'erent level than journals ol' their outer endssubstantially as described.

.2. in a gravity-carrier, the combination. with the rails, ofantil'riction-rollers of substantially the same diameter at, each endjournalcd at the sides ol the carrier and near the middle thereof, theinner ends of said rollers being'ahove the level of their outer ends.

2%; ln :1 gravity-carrier, the combination,

rollers jourmiled in said rails, the journals of l the inner ends ofsaid roilers being higher than the journals of their outer entls,i'orthe purpose speciiied/ j 4. In a gravity-carrier, l

the combination.

with the side and middle rails, of antifrictionrollers onrnaled 1n saidrails alternately upon each side oiisaid middle rail, the inner ends 1of said rollers being journaled in the rear slightly of their outerends, for the purpose specified.

5. In a gravity-carrier, the combination,

with the side and middle rails, of antifriction idle rollers journaledin said-rails, the inner ends of said rollers being in the rear slightlyof their outer ends, substantially as described.

6. A gravity-carrier composed of portable separable sections, eachsection having side and middle rails, antifric-tion-rollers journaled insaid rails upon each side of the middle line of the carrier, the innerends of said rollers being on a higher level than their.

outer ends and the bearings of said rollers being set at an angle orobliquely with re-' spect to the plane of said rails whereby thearticles passing over said rollers-will 'work toward the'eemer of thecarrier,'substan-- tiall as described.

7. 111 a graviiy-earrier, a series of antifriction-rollers journaled ineach side of the car; rier and near the middle thereof, the inner endsoi said rollers being in the rear slightly of their outer ends and onadillerent plane.

8. in a gravity-carrier. antifriction idle rollers provided on each sideof the middle line ol tlie carrier and having theirinner ends journalednearsaid middle line and their outer ends journaled in the sides of thecarrier. and the inner ends ol said rollers being in the rear slightlyof their outer ends whereb merchandise moving over said rollers willwork toward the center of the carrier, substantiallyas described.

S). In a gravity-carrier. idle-rollers provided on each side ol' themiddle line of the carrier and having theirinner ends journaled nearsaid middle line and their outer ends journaled in the sides of thecarrier. said rollers being 'ol' substantially the same diameter at eachend and their inner ends being on a dill'erent level thantheir outerends, substantially as described,

it). in a gravity-carrier. idle rollers arranged on each side of the.middle line of the carrier and having their inner ends journaled nearsaid-middle line and their outer ends journaled in the sides of thecarrier, said rollers being of substantially the same diameter at eachend and theirinner ends being on a higher level than their outer ends,substantially as described.

ll. In a' gravity-carrier. idle rollers provided on each side of themiddle line ol' the carrier and having their inner ends journaled nearsaid middle line and their outer ends journaled in the sides or thecarrier, the rollers on one side ol' said middle line alternat iug inposition with those 'on.the other side and the inner ends of suidrollers being in the rear seems I slightly, of their outer ends, wherebyarticles E carrier and heviugtheir outer ends journeled movin thereoverwill work toward the cen let the sides of the eerriei, said rollersbeing of 15 ter of the Carrier; I e substantially the same diameter ateach end 12. In a gravity-earlier, idle rollers proand their inner endsbeing on a higher level vided on each side of the middle line of thethan their outer ends. carrier and having their outer ends journeled InWitness whereof We have hereunto set at (tlhe slides of the eelrlrier,the; iliuisr exflclls1 of 1 our hands this 8th elitists-y, 1905. sai roersbein int ereer'sigityo t eir 1 outer ends when? by articles movingover said. rollers will work toward the center of the oer" f ner.

18. In a grevitymarrier; idle rollers errsnged on eeeh side of themiddle line of the Nita lessee:

RIC-HARD PAUL, C. Knesset lee.

l l, l

